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Join us after the concert on May 17, 2015, to celebrate the end of the season with a dinner of summer favorites.

We’ll be feasting on a personalized menu of warm-weather delicacies–there might even be birthday cake to celebrate our fifth anniversary. We can think of no better way to toast the successes of this year’s season and celebrate the friends and supporters who have made such work possible. All proceeds support the work of the Chestnut Street Singers and help us to keep presenting accessible, innovative concerts. Make your reservation today!

Join us as we partner with The Laughing Bird and PhilHarmonia for 2 once-in-a-lifetime free concerts on March 14 and 15. 40 Voices Singing features three of Philadelphia’s most exciting choral ensembles singing the best repertoire for large choirs, including Thomas Tallis’ legendary “Spem in alium,” also known as the 40-Voice Motet. It is a rarely performed masterpiece of Renaissance polyphony, with 40 singers each singing their own independent part and standing in a circle around the audience.

Other highlights include Jordan Nobles’ “Lux antiqua,” folksongs from Lithuania and Iceland, and an eclectic mass in which each mass movement will be drawn from a different choral setting of the liturgy. You’ll hear the Chestnut Street Singers, The Laughing Bird, and PhilHarmonia each singing their own movement before the massed ensemble performs Samuel Barber’s heart-wrenching “Agnus dei,” the choral setting of his “Adagio for Strings,” as the grand finale.

What better way to celebrate the Chestnut Street Singers’ fifth anniversary season than with this extraordinary concert showcasing the vitality of the Philadelphia choral scene? We can’t wait to see you there to join in the fun–reserve your free seats today!

Join us to celebrate our 5th anniversary season with three exciting new concert programs, including our first-ever collaborative project with other local choirs.

The Elements of Song: From Sea to Sky
The program celebrates music referencing the four classical elements: earth, air, fire, and water. All creation draws upon these basic elements, and our physical connection to music grounds us in shared creativity. From a sensual tango by harpist Loreena McKennitt to a gentle madrigal by Claudio Monteverdi to a fiercely wintry setting of Shakespeare’s “Blow, blow, thou winter wind,” each piece brings us closer to the art inherent in the physical world.Sunday, November 9 at 2 PM @ the First Unitarian Church

40 Voices Singing: Masterworks for Massed Choirsa collaboration with The Laughing Bird and PhilHarmonia
Do you love supporting Philadelphia musicians? Do you love great music? Then this is the concert for you: join us as we partner with two of our favorite fellow ensembles, The Laughing Bird and PhilHarmonia, to sing some of the best and most exciting music written for large choirs. The program will spotlight Thomas Tallis’ famed “Spem in alium,” better known as the 40-Voice Motet, and other masterworks by early and modern composers. These concerts are made possible with support from the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, PECO, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the Puffin Foundation.Saturday, March 14 at 7 PM @ the First Unitarian ChurchSunday, March 15 at 2 PM @ the Rotunda at Penn

As Birds Do Sing: A 5th Anniversary Concert
To bring our anniversary season to a close, we’ll return to our roots–literally and figuratively–with a springtime concert celebrating the natural world. In homage to the wren on our logo, music about birds and nature was one of our earliest and longest-running themes. We’ll celebrate five years of singing by bringing some of our old favorites out of the vault and sharing our new endeavors.Sunday, May 17 at 5 PM @ the First Unitarian Church

Our final concert of the 2013-2014 season uses folk songs and global music traditions to explore how cultural pride and a sense of belonging can be expressed through music. There’s longing, nostalgia and quite a few love songs. Works include the joik “Eatnemen Vuelie,” made famous by the movie Frozen, the salsa rhythms of Cuban favorite “Lágrimas Negras,” the Jewish folk song “El Yivneh Hagalil,” and a contemporary interpretation of the American shape-note tune “Long Time Travelin.”

Please note that this concert starts later than usual, at 5:00 p.m. Donations accepted.

ANNUAL CHESTNUTS DINNER
Join us after the concert to celebrate the end of the season with a dinner of summer favorites. We’ll be feasting on a personalized menu of local produce and handcrafted barbecue, accompanied with a few special musical selections that weren’t part of the evening’s concert program. We can think of no better way to toast the successes of this year’s season and celebrate the friends and supporters who have made such work possible. All proceeds support the work of the Chestnut Street Singers and help us to keep presenting accessible, innovative concerts. Make your reservation today!

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"Listening to the Chestnut Street Singers' beautifully blended voices and tight formations in dynamic ebbs and flows in the music was a joy. Based on themes for past and future concerts, it appears that the excellent programming in this concert is not a fluke."
—Sharon Torello, Local Arts Live

"Good a cappella choral music requires strong voices, good harmony, close coordination, and astute selections. The Chestnut Street Singers scored in all four categories."
—Tom Purdom, Broad Street Review